Yesterday was the color grass/forest green for Shutter Sisters color month. I knew exactly what I wanted to get a picture of, something I’ve been meaning to take a picture of for weeks. And FINALLY, here it is. The dress I made, Vogue 1094.

Next time, I should really take the picture when I originally wear it. That would make soooooo much more sense. Then there won’t be any procrastinating since I feel awkward whenever I take pictures of myself in clothes. Ok, that came out weird. I don’t usually pose nude. Wait. That’s not right either. I DON’T POSE NUDE AT ALL. What I mean to say is, when I’m taking pictures of myself, wearing something I’ve made, I feel all gawky and unnatural. And, yes, I do know that I take pictures of myself in our family photos but for some reason that’s different.

But anyhoo, let’s move beyond my strange hangups and talk about the dress, shall we? I cut out size 20, that’s based on my bust measurements. But recently I read about pattern ease and the finished measurements of a garment. Well, with Vogue 1094, the finished measurements for the size 20 would have been too big for me. So, I went with an 18 instead and it worked out just right.

Just right except I didn’t finish it properly. I almost finished it the way I wanted but I ran out of time. First, I forgot that I wanted to put pockets in it. I realized after I serged up the seam allowances. Ooops.

Then I didn’t add the grosgrain belt piece inside. I decided not to line the dress and you could see the belt so I left the belt out.

And, also, I didn’t do the hem quite right. I serged the hem and then folded it once and just basted it up like that, not properly sewing it down. I was so tired towards the end, that I didn’t even realize, I did the hem wrong. I was supposed to use horsehair in the hem. I realized I missed the horsehair step when I saw Nathan running around with it.

At this point I don’t even know if adding the horsehair is an option because I cut the dress length. And cut it by A LOT.

I’m not that tall. I’m about 5’4″. Like the last time I sewed myself a dress, I bought the correct width of fabric yet when it was time to cut it out, the fabric wasn’t wide enough for the amount I bought. So, I left out about 3″ on the hem. Then when I tried the dress on, it still felt too long to me. It was down to about my shins and I thought it wasn’t as flattering, so, I took off more to bring it up to my knees, another good 4 inches. Am I really that short that I took away like 8″ from the original hem?!

At the wedding, I was wondering if the hem was turning up and everyone could see the odd serging. But am I going to fix it? I think if I try to put the horsehair in now, the dress is going to be too short. So… so… yeah… there it sits. Basted hem. Don’t think I’ll ever finish it properly.

Speaking of the wedding, the kids looked so cute! You already saw them all fancied up.

But you didn’t see Alan. He looked so handsome in his suit.

Too bad I didn’t get more pictures of Nathan in his little vest and clip on tie. He didn’t wear it for very long.

He probably was sick of it since he wore it the entire ride up to the wedding and then through the wedding.

We weren’t planning on getting him dressed until we arrived at the church but when he saw Isabelle all dressed up he wanted to dress up too.

Hey I forgot I’m missing a photo from color month. This was lime green.

And now…and now….

I’m so glad I mostly finished the dress. I borrowed a dress from my friend, Bridgette, just in case I didn’t finish in time. It’s funny, I liked the dress I borrowed, but Alan said it looked like a robe. He has this thing with wrap dresses looking like robes to him.

He much preferred the dress I made even though I did wear it with a petticoat. I thought the dress looked a lot better with the petticoat. He doesn’t get why I like that style. But I do. I like the 50s silhouette. It’s curvy and feminine. That’s such a weird thing for me. Do you know I used to wear jeans and t-shirts and basically borrowed clothes from Alan at one point? Now my mom uniform is skirts and dresses.

Can you tell I’m totally stalling?

Well I am.

I told you I had weird hangup about taking pictures of myself in clothes. And this is why I’m babbling. Final picture. Me in my dress.

Have a good weekend everyone.